Comments on: UPDATE: New anti-terrorist welcome to Japan, less ouch

By: Mario

Mario — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:10:11 +0000

Taro,

Thank you for your explanation. By inserting that “anal probe” part into the article, me and my friends had a great laughter about how this really fits with the fetishistic minds of the Japanese.

By: Taro

Taro — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:03:07 +0000

Mario wrote:
um.. Am I the only one who could find the article where it was stated that you also have to undergo the anal probe?

Nope. Everyone seems to want a LITERAL alien anal probe. In reality it’s just a figurative reaming that Japan Immigration is subjecting foreign residents and visitors to since this system only collects fingerprints and photos repeatedly for no reason. It does not check the collected biometric data against passports except at one of the Japan’s hundreds of ports of entry—it’s pure “security theater.”
Anyway, I’m sorry writing about the “anal probe,” which is just the silly musings of my humor-impaired mind.

By: Mario

Mario — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:33:22 +0000

um.. Am I the only one who could find the article where it was stated that you also have to undergo the anal probe?

By: Taro

Taro — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:38:23 +0000

Nathan wrote:
Please tell me the probing part was just a joke. That would humiliating enough to make me never want to go to Japan again.

Ha, ha, I’ve been anal probed by border police in China a few times. At least in Japan, all body searches are done by cute, under 25 year old security women.

Nathan wrote:
…fingerprinting and photographs is paranoia extreme…However, if they do anything physically beyond what is standard in US customs security, their tourism will take a huge dive.

Actually, Japan’s new xenophobic procedures are going way beyond the USA — Even the USA does not torment it’s Green Card residents as much Japan by requiring Stalinist-style “Re-enter visa” on top the already issued long-term visa and alien resident cards with photo and fingerprint.
Yes, Japan already has collected photo and fingerprints from all more-than-3-month residents, yet now are asking for new photo and fingerprints every time along term resident goes on vacation and returns. The IT-retarded Japanese government cannot properly manage their existing alien photo and fingerprint databases, but they now add redundant information. Sheesh.

By: Taro

Taro — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:16:57 +0000

Under the guise of “international cooperation” this anti-terrorist welcome to Japan is just a way to to lump together all aliens/gaijin whether they are long-term residents and taxpayers with decades of life in Japan like me with foreign tourists and visitors. Now with these xenophobic procedures, even the USA does not torment it’s Green Card residents as much Japan.

By: Gareth

Gareth — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 03:17:31 +0000

You had me scared there with the anal-probing for a while.
I can understand fingerprinting, photographing ect of immigrants and I imagine it will spread pretty quickly amongst the MEDC’s even though it is a bit xeno-phobic. Still wouldn’t put me off visiting Japan.
This fear of terrorism is getting stupid. It seems we are gradually losing our civil liberties in the name of anti-terrorism. Nobody is getting near my with an RFID chip, its a few steps away from a totalitarian government :(

By: Onigawara G

Onigawara G — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:39:09 +0000

This does not go far enough. Every foreigner coming to Japan should have an RFID chip implanted, and their fingerprint data should go in a central database. Then they should require DNA samples as a condition of entry for all travellers. Visitors would be checked against INTERPOL databases and given a polygraph test to be sure they had no ties to terrorist organizations,. All police officers would have chip readers, and every supermarket, government buildings, and train stations would be required to have scanners and cameras to ID everyone passing through. This is our only way to be safe and secure, and enjoy our beuatiful Nippon.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:25:27 +0000

Please tell me the probing part was just a joke. That would humiliating enough to make me never want to go to Japan again.

While I think going to the length of fingerprinting and photographs is paranoia extreme, along with outlawing the use of electronics on planes, I have no problem with it. However, if they do anything physically beyond what is standard in US customs security, their tourism will take a huge dive.